


sunflowers

by traineecorps



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, hell yeah, lmao don't write beruani while listening to bon iver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:58:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traineecorps/pseuds/traineecorps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>he dreams of a girl with galaxies full of constellation-freckles that he can connect with the feathery touches of his fingers; a girl who is tall but not as tall as him; a girl who will gladly lay under the stars with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sunflowers

When Reiner first tells Bertholdt about Annie, he pictures a girl. He imagines a girl with wild red hair like her laughter, flowing in a halo around her head. He dreams of a girl with galaxies full of constellation-freckles that he can connect with the feathery touches of his fingers; a girl who is tall but not as tall as him; a girl who will gladly lay under the stars with him.

But now here she is, standing in front of him. Annie is blond: her hair is brighter than the sunflowers that grow in his front yard, and he falls. He falls for her stature. She is tiny when she holds Reiner’s hand. He falls for the ice in her eyes and he is determined to break away the frost that encases her.

“H-hello,” Bertholdt murmurs and reaches out his hand for her. The girl wraps her delicate fingers around his and holds tight.

**+**

He loves the way she says his name out loud.

“Bertholdt.” She calls once again, never once using his old nickname. Her clear blue eyes reflect the clouds they are under and she turns to look at him this time.

“Yeah?” He says, careful not stammer. The clouds move again, casting vast shadows on the hills.

“Can I tell you something?” Annie asks. Her dress whispers as she inches closer to him.

“Sure.” He replies as she nears his gravitational pull.

“It’s a riddle. I am the start of eternity and the end of time and space. I am the beginning of every end and the end of every place. What am I?” She’s so close that he can see the angel lashes that frame her delicate eyes, he can see the steady rise and fall of her chest, and he can almost kiss her if she’d let him.

“It’s the letter E, isn’t it?” Bertholdt ponders and he can see her lips quirk up into a small smile. And for an instant, time seems to stand still and he wishes that he could take this moment and put it in a fairy jar to reminisce upon during days when the rain is incessant.

**+**

They’re sitting in his backyard, watching the stars overhead turn into fireflies and they eat ice cream on Popsicle sticks. They sit back to back and her braid tickles the small of his back through the cotton of his shirt.

The gentle lull of the cicadas bring them solace as they unwind on the grass and that’s when he knows that’s he is in love with her.

He’s in love with the way her eyes crinkle when he makes her laugh, he’s in love with the way her dress flutters when she sits on the front handlebar of his bicycle as they peddle down the sidewalk, never bothering to look back. He loves her so much that it is immeasurable. Even if he were to take her to the edge where the sea meets the sand, the miles spanning to the nearest source of land wouldn’t be able to count his love.

He turns his head over his shoulder to look at her, but she is affixed to the dandelion fluff that floats in the air as she blows gently to set the seeds in flight. He gets up without disturbing her and runs back to his front yard. The twilight haze casts a lavender glow over everything, including the sunflowers that situate themselves near the bay window. He scours the array to find a flower that is small enough for her and when he does, he gently pulls it out.

He runs back to her and holds out the flower. She looks at the yellow petals then at him.

“Is this for me?” Her soft voice blends into the light breeze.

“Yeah.” He breathes.

“Oh.” She shies away.

“Here,” he brings her back by tucking the flower into the crook of her ear. Her fingers fly to her ears, and she blooms pink as she touches the smooth petals.

“Thank you.” She says.

**+**

She’s not there when he brings his bicycle over to go for a ride again.

“Where is she?” Bertholdt asks Reiner and the blond boy just gives him a slight shrug.

“Mom and Dad dropped her off at the airport earlier. I didn’t go. I’m surprised that you didn’t know that she was only here for the summer.” Reiner explains, not taking his eyes off the television screen. He lets out a whoop when he sees the announcement that signals his beating of his previous high score.

“Where did she go?” Bertholdt asks, not accepting the answer given to him.

“Back to Aunt Mimi’s in California.” The other boy replies, not really interested.

“Oh, and she dropped something on the way out, think it might be yours. I left it on the counter.” He adds.

Bertholdt tries not to run and he does make it to the counter where he finds the familiar sunflower lying in solitude.

He knows one thing for sure now: he’ll never see her again in all of eternity. He just let her slip through his fingers.

All she has left for him is her stardust to remember her by.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> cool cool. okay so i remade my ao3 after deleting lmao. so i'm just bringing back my old stuff after cleaning up some wording and stuff?? idk lmao. i haven't written beruani in ages.


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